Reconstitution package

ABSTRACT

A package ( 10 ) for a material which can be reconstituted by adding a liquid thereto comprises an expandable bag ( 12 ) for containing the material in its unreconstituted state. The bag has an opening ( 18 ) allowing liquid to be introduced into the package, and an opening ( 16 ) allowing the reconstituted material to be removed from the package, which may be one and the same opening. The openings may be reclosable, and may also be water-tight. The bag may be reinforced at its lower end, and can have a carrying handle at its upper end.

This Application is a National Phase of International Application No.PCT/GBO2/03068, filed on Jul. 3, 2002, which claims priority from GreatBritain Patent Application No. 0116387.2, filed on Jul. 4, 2001.

The present invention relates to a package, and more particularly to apackage which allows a product contained therein to be reconstituted bythe addition of a liquid such as water. The package finds particularapplication in the field of growing media.

The term “growing medium” is used herein to denote any medium in whichplants can grow, and includes (but is not limited to) substances such assoil, sand, compost, peat and coir. Coir is a peat-free growing mediummade from the pith of the coconut husk.

It is a characteristic of some growing media, and in particular coir,that they are relatively heavy when sufficiently moist to form a viablegrowing medium, but have relatively low intrinsic value. As a result,they are expensive to transport.

In order to circumvent this, coir in particular is normally shipped fromits country of origin in partially desiccated compressed blocks orbriquettes. These blocks are then reconstituted by adding water. Thismay be done, for example, at a commercial grower's establishment, or ata growing media merchant, who may also add fertilizers or the like tothe coir.

In addition, the blocks are also sold to the domestic market, and thepurchaser then reconstitutes the coir themselves at home. As an example,coir is typically sold in 650 g blocks, measuring around 20 cm by 10 cmby 5 cm (and thus with a volume of around 1 liter). The block isnormally placed in a receptacle such as a bucket, to which water isadded. The mixture is then agitated to mix the coir and the water untilthe coir is fully reconstituted. This will produce around nine liters ofusable growing medium.

There are a number of drawbacks to this process. A container is requiredfor mixing, which is in itself a time-consuming process. The process canbe rather messy, both from the reconstituted coir and the dried coir,which is dusty. In addition, if not all of the reconstituted coir isused immediately, then the container (or another container) must be usedto store the coir.

At least in its preferred embodiments, the invention seeks to overcomethese drawbacks.

According to the invention, there is provided a reconstitution packagefor a material which can be reconstituted by adding a liquid thereto,comprising an expandable bag for containing the material in itsunreconstituted state, said bag having an opening allowing liquid to beintroduced into the package, and an opening allowing the reconstitutedmaterial to be removed from the package.

In a package of this type, the material (such as coir) is reconstitutedinside the package. There is therefore less mess. The ability of the bagto expand allows the material to increase in volume as it isreconstituted.

Preferably, the openings are reclosable. This allows the package to bereclosed after some of the reconstituted material has been removed, andso there is no need to use all of the material at one time.

Two separate openings may be provided. Alternatively, a single openingmay be provided for the introduction of liquid and the removal ofreconstituted material. A package with a single opening can be easier tomanufacture. In a preferred form, the opening(s) is (are) resealable andliquid-tight.

Preferably, the opening allowing liquid to be introduced into thepackage is of a size to allow insertion of the end of a hose. Thisfacilitates the introduction of liquid into the container. It is furtherpreferred for the opening allowing liquid to be introduced into thepackage to be provided with means to grip the end of a hose insertedthereinto, to reduce the risk of the hose accidentally falling out ofthe opening, which could lead to spillage.

The opening allowing the reconstituted material to be removed from thepackage can take any suitable form. However, it is preferred for theopening to take the form of an elongate opening extending along a faceof the bag. This allows an end user to insert tools such as trowels intothe package to remove the reconstituted material. To further facilitatethis, it is preferred that the elongate opening extends across a face ofthe bag, or even around the entire circumference of said bag.

As the package must accommodate the material in its reconstituted form,it must have a sufficient volume to do so. The package could be suppliedin such a state that it already has the appropriate volume; however,such a package occupies more space than necessary, and increasesshipping costs. Thus, it is preferred for the package to be capable ofexpanding to accommodate the reconstituted material. In a preferredform, the bag of the package is pleated or otherwise folded in itsunexpanded state. These pleats or folds allow the bag to increase involume as the material is reconstituted.

Preferably, the bag is adapted to stand on an end, with the opening(s)being provided in the upper region of the bag. This facilitates both thereconstitution step, and the step of removing material from the package.It is further preferred for the lower end of the bag to be reinforced.

In a preferred form, the bag is provided with a carrying handle, tofacilitate transport. As mentioned above, the material beingreconstituted may expand to several times its original volume duringreconstitution, and so it may be necessary for the bag to have aconsiderable height to accommodate the reconstituted material. Thisheight may be greater than the distance between a user's hand and theground when the user is walking, and so in a particular form, the handleis positioned below the opening allowing the reconstituted material tobe removed from the package when the package is carried by the handle.This opening will be positioned at or near the top of the bag, tosimplify removal of the material.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by way ofexample only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the package;

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the package before reconstitution;

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the package after reconstitution; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of an alternative form of thepackage.

As can be seen from the Figures, and in particular FIGS. 1 and 2, thepackage 10 is generally in the form of a bag 12 with pleated sides. Thispleating 14 allows the bag to expand with its contents, and it will beappreciated that other arrangements allowing the bag 12 to expand inthis way can also be used. The bag may be formed from any suitable sheetmaterial which is sufficiently hardwearing and sufficiently flexible toallow the expansion and which will not react with or contaminate thecontents.

Contained in the package as supplied, and shown schematically in phantomin FIG. 2, is a block 30 of compressed desiccated coir or the like,which may have fertilizers added.

Towards one end of the package 10 is a recloseable elongate opening 16,which may be of the “ZIP-LOC” type, or of any other suitable form. Thisopening may extend across the full width of one face of the package, ormay have a smaller extent. In any case, the opening is preferably ofsufficient length to allow an implement such as a trowel or a spade tobe inserted into the package. The opening may be resealable andwatertight.

A second opening 18 can also be provided, for the insertion of a hose orthe like. The opening may be provided with means for grasping the end ofthe hose with sufficient force to prevent it from falling out. This maybe in the form of a resilient piece of plastics material with slits init, the slits forming an aperture through which the end of a hose can beinserted, although the skilled person will appreciate that any othersimilar form of gripper can be used. The opening may be closed by ascrew cap (in a similar way to openings on cartons for milk and juice),or by any other suitable type of closure, and may again be resealableand water-tight.

The package is adapted to stand upright on one end 20, so that theopenings 16, 18 are at the top. This can be achieved by making thepackage generally wedge-shaped (as shown), or by having a relativelyheavy piece 22 of preferably plastics material at the base of thepackage 10. Of course, it is possible to use both approaches at once,and this may be preferred as it reinforces the lower end 20 of thepackage, which is more likely to suffer wear and tear.

Use of the package is as follows. A user will purchase the package 10containing the compressed coir at a garden supply centre or the like,and will take it home.

When the user has the package at home, the second opening 18 is openedand the end of a hose or the like is inserted into it. Water is thenadded to the coir in the package 10 to reconstitute it. Once sufficientwater has been added, the hose is removed and the opening 18 preferablyclosed. The addition of the water will force the package to expand,opening out the pleats 14 of the bag 12, as can be seen from FIG. 3. Thecompressed desiccated coir will then absorb the water and becomereconstituted.

The user can then open the elongate opening 16 and insert a trowel orthe like to remove the reconstituted coir from the package. Once therequired amount of reconstituted coir has been removed, the package maybe resealed.

It will be appreciated that the package has a number of advantages overthe prior art. The procedure as a whole is cleaner; as the compresseddesiccated coir is contained within the sealed package, there is noproblem with it shedding dust, and in addition the reconstitution partof the process takes place in a sealed container. No additionalcontainers are required for the reconstitution. In addition, the packageas supplied is much lighter than a package of moist growing medium, andis thus easier for elderly or less robust persons to pick up andtransport. Further, as the package is less bulky than a package of moistgrowing medium, shipping costs are reduced, and a retailer can stockmore of the packages. The packages can be displayed indoors at gardensupply centres or the like, which can help to increase sales duringperiods of bad weather when prospective purchasers are unwilling to beoutdoors. Lastly, in its preferred form, the package is resealable, andso there is no need to use all of the coir at once.

It will also be appreciated by the skilled person that a number ofvariants to the preferred embodiment are possible. For example, theopening for the hose can be dispensed with, and water can be introducedinto the package through the elongate opening, and a package of thistype (with a single opening) may be preferred for manufacturing reasons,as it is easier to form a single opening than two 'separate openings. Inaddition, the elongate opening may extend the full circumference of thepackage, allowing easier access to the reconstituted coir.

A handle may be provided towards the top of the bag to simplifycarriage. This could be in the form of a simple cutout in the sheetsforming the bag, the edges of which are sealed to each other.

It may be necessary to form the handle below the elongate opening; thebag will expand considerably as the material is reconstituted, and thismay be require it to be of a height greater than the distance between auser's hand and the ground when the user is walking, in which case thehandle must be positioned below the elongate opening. A package of thistype is shown in FIG. 4. Here, the handle 32 is formed as a simplecutout through the front and back sheets of the bag, which are joinedtogether when the material is in its unreconstituted state (as shown).As will be seen, the handle 32 is formed well below the elongate opening16.

The handle and the opening may be arranged so that the user can insertan implement into the bag past the handle, to allow removal of thereconstituted material, or the handle may be formed such that the sheetsforming the bag can be pulled apart to allow a user access to the fullwidth of the bag.

Further, although the description has been in the context of a packagefor growing media, and in particular coir, it will be appreciated thatthe package can be used with other materials.

1. A package, comprising: a piece of compressed coir or a material containing compressed coir; and a flexible expandable bag having at least one expandable pleat, wherein the bag contains the compressed coir or a material containing compressed coir, wherein the compressed coir or the material containing compressed coir is expandable if a liquid is added to the compressed coir, wherein expanding the coir during reconstitution in the package expands the bag by several times an original volume of the bag by pressing against sides of the bag to form reconstituted coir or reconstituted material, wherein the bag has an opening to allow the liquid to be introduced into the package and the opening to allow the reconstituted coir or the reconstituted material to be removed from the package, wherein the package as supplied is compact, flexible, and light when compared to the package after reconstitution.
 2. The package of claim 1, wherein the opening is recloseable.
 3. The package of claim 2, wherein the opening is resealable and liquid-tight.
 4. The package of claim 1, wherein the opening allowing liquid to be introduced into the package is of a size to allow insertion of the end of a hose.
 5. The package of claim 4, wherein said opening allowing liquid to be introduced into the package is provided with means to grip the end of a hose inserted thereinto.
 6. The package of claim 1, wherein the opening allowing the reconstituted material to be removed from the package is an elongate opening extending along a face of the bag.
 7. The package of claim 6, wherein said elongate opening extends across substantially the full width of a face of the bag.
 8. The package of claim 1, wherein said bag is pleated in its unexpanded state.
 9. The package of claim 1, wherein said bag is adapted to stand on a lower end, with the opening being provided in the upper region of the bag.
 10. The package of claim 9, wherein the lower end of the bag is reinforced.
 11. The package of claim 1, wherein the bag is provided with a carrying handle.
 12. The package of claim 11, wherein, when the package is carried by the handle, the handle is positioned below the opening allowing the reconstituted material to be removed from the package. 